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Aldus Delore
An Arland historian who befriended King Lake and went on various expeditions to do research for the crown. He is allies with Jessie Lawlier and Valor. His primary goal is the pursuit of knowledge no matter the cost. He is described as a "Mephistopheles" type Personality Aldus Delore, while friendly on the surface, is really a very manipulative individual. He gathers and forms relationships with various figures of note over the years to use later for his own ends. In truth, he is distant, passionless, and unfeeling toward most people (finding it hard to open up, share true plans, and such)...with one exception (unless this was also part of his manipulative ways) being Valor who he views like a son. He has also developed a closer relationship with a woman known as Jessie Lawlier whom he also views as an adoptive kid. Aldus is mainly focused on gaining knowledge, and will go to any lengths in pursuit of this goal (learning everything being one of the only things he is passionate about). When funding various expeditions / endeavors, he prefers to take money from the Eslanders whenever possible (having systematically taking coin from royal coffers for 30 years), but he liked to beg other kinds of favors from the Arland Crown. He is very pragmatic, believing that his subordinates should put personal feelings and feuds aside in order to work together. Aldus has shown many times to be an incompetent leader (with his attempts at manipulating his subordinates to do certain tasks backfiring and his lack of communication leading to a lot of trouble) Skills Aldus' main strength is his ability to manipulate others. Over the years he is able to form relationships with many important figures and get people into his pocket to use for his own ends later. He is also knowledgeable about various subjects and has a knack for getting out of bad situations. Pre Catharsis Arc Aldus would meet Valor around 30 years prior to the Catharsis Arc (when he was around his late 20s) and they would join forces to attempt to capture a shape shifter named Kordimus. They would become close (Valor viewing Aldus as a father figure) and they would work together in many other endeavors. At some point, Aldus and Valor would meet a Fae from another Dimension who would give them a syringe (the inner lining of which seemed to be forged with obsidian) filled with Concentrated Starlight (a black liquid with silver and gold flecks). Aldus, naturally, sought to test the item. He would travel to Esland where he had heard the King was having trouble producing an heir and offer his services. He said he could try healing the Queen and in the coming months she would produce an heir. King Lake would allow Aldus audience with the Queen and be none the wiser of what would transpire. Aldus (after getting the guard of the Iron Tower, Iron Wex, to move aside) would meet with the Ruby Queen. He would inject her with the contents of the syringe Lord Soetoro would send Aldus to the Unclaimed Tundra to kill the Glass Heart Witch, retrieve Meredith, and bring her back to her father. Aldus would manipulate Jessie Lawlier (who was a naive 15 year old at the time), to do his dirty work for him and vanquish the GHW (a tale which could be spun as a fantastical legend of a girl from another world who vanquished evil). It is also believed that Aldus would systematically taking coin from the royal coffers for thirty years. Catharsis Arc During the beginning of the arc, Aldus mainly sends out various teams around the island to complete certain tasks and goals. He also tries to manipulate them to indirectly perform certain things that would benefit himself in some way...In the mean time, however, his forces investigate the primary ruins site and discover a strange Ganthian Artifact known as the "Moon Blocking Device". They aren't able to decipher some of the info related to it and decide to leave it alone for the time being. Later on, one of the teams he had sent into the ruins would return and inform him about the Kraken. Apparently the leader of that group (Kent Erensworth), made a deal with the Kraken to save them. It had told him to remind Aldus of the deal that they had made in the past and make efforts to release him from his island prison. Aldus would go along with this sending a few forces to potentially find a way to break him out (although he did send some excavators, he was probably not going to try to set him free...who knows though?) As time goes on and more of Aldus' schemes (like knowing that the Arlanders would be coming with the Crown of Fiends / luring them to Catharsis indirectly via manipulation) are revealed, it becomes apparent that Aldus was after The Crown of Fiends for some unknown reason. Things would soon go wrong however, as his attempts at manipulation, apparent incompetence as a leader, and other bad events occurring lead to a lot of trouble. A Shadow Drake (who was really his former associate / enemy Lilly) would attack the Expedition Base Camp and cause a lot of carnage. Aldus is able to find haven within the ruins, but is trapped inside with a few others after the Shadow Drake collapsed a part of the ruins in her onslaught. --- Some time later, efforts would be made in order to create a path for them to escape the ruins. Their supplies would dwindle during this time, however, and they would be forced to venture deeper into the ruins to either find more supplies or an alternative means of escape. This ends poorly, as they would soon find themselves within the reach of The Kraken. The Kraken, a bit annoyed at the damage to the ruins (making his prison worse), would speak with them for a time. After learning that Aldus had sent some forces to help dig out part of the southern ruins (so the Kraken could get out), the beast decides that now would be the time to collect his payment (related to the one Kent and Aldus made...he still needed one more sacrifice). The Kraken toys with Aldus and tells him to choose to sacrifice his close comrade Valor (the person he had made the original deal with the Kraken in order to save originally), or Kent Erensworth. After some hesitation, Aldus would choose to sacrifice Kent (during this time Kent has a realization that Aldus may have been behind his father's demise), and the Kraken would go to take its prize. Things don't go so simple, however, as another among them known as Natalia would intervene. She would say how Kent was a hero and that Aldus could never get the Kraken out on his own. At this point, the Kraken just decides to try and kill all of them. Although many of the forces are slain, the main group members are able to escape the Kraken's wrath (including Aldus and Valor). Kent Erensworth (who had somehow gotten away from the Kraken), would try to kill Aldus but be stopped by Valor. Aldus is worried, but here's the timely arrival of the rescue party coming from above (they had managed to break through). Believing that he was now in control, he tries to have them apprehend Kent. He would be surprise to find that he himself would be the one to be apprehended. During the time that Aldus had been stuck in the ruins, Meredith Soetoro and Ashvel (two other members of the expedition forces) would assume leadership of the camp and basically lead a mutiny (how Aldus was incompetent and how they had come there to search the ruins). Aldus would be taken captive, and Valor goes along with this for the time being. As the group makes their way to the surface, they discover that all hell had broken loose. When the Shadow Drake had dealt damage to the ruins (which led to them being trapped), it had also indirectly destroyed the Moon Blocking Device. This Moon Blocking Device was ensuring that an ancient race known as The Moon Elves (who had originally came from their planet and were somehow sent / exiled to the Moon for some reason) couldn't return. With the device destroyed, a force of Moon Elves (localized mainly onto the island) would arrive and begin tearing the main camp apart. --- At some point while Kent's group was engaging a Moon Elf, Aldus Delore would become separated / sneak away from them. He would soon be discovered by another group that had Cameron Bright with them (The leader of the Arland forces on the island). This group would also have a man named Kordimus who had a particular interest in Aldus (he wanted to get payback because he was actually a shapeshifter whom Aldus and Valor had captured and kept prisoner for a scheme they were potentially working on). In any case, the group releases Aldus and Cameron begins heading south to meet up with his forces. Aldus would stick with Cameron, but the rest of the group would stay at the camp to try to save more people. As Aldus and Cameron journey south, they would find forces consisting of Arlanders and Eslanders. They would gather them together to make a relatively sizable force (Aldus would like them working together). They would soon arrive near the town of Southshore and find two Moon Elves (Vasericosm and Cosmidascus) within. They choose to hold back for the moment and observe the two moon elves. The Moon Elves had apparently been trying to forge an alliance with the citizens of Southshore (which mainly consisted of beastkin and magical animals, races the Moon Elves seemed more friendly with). This effort is in vain as the citizens just hide from them. In time, they would abandon the town and begin heading North. Once they left, Aldus and Cameron would arrive in the town with their forces and be accepted by the locals. ---Category:ITD7 Characters